THE ADVOCATE.

Shawna R. McMillan, M.Ed.

Shawna R. McMillan, M.Ed., is an educator, advocate, and doctoral scholar who has dedicated her career to ensuring that every child regardless of background, race, or ability has access to the meaningful education they deserve.

She is the Founder and Director of Navigating Advocacy for Meaningful Education (N.A.M.E.) LLC, a Maryland-based social impact organization that equips families, educators, and nonprofits with the tools to create inclusive, equitable learning environments.

Her work sits at the intersection of special education, community advocacy, and leadership development, blending research, lived experience, and policy insight to drive systemic change.

Educator • Advocate • Innovator • Leader

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Connect with Shawna

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/shawnamcmillan
Instagram: @theshawnalogue
Email: shawna@joinname.org

Shawna’s journey began in 2018, when she founded Advocate Baltimore, a grassroots effort to help families navigate the special education system. At the time, she was serving as a teacher and instructional leader in Maryland public schools, where she witnessed how families often struggled to understand IEPs, 504 plans, and their children’s educational rights. Through late-night phone calls, living room meetings, and free community “Power Hours,” Shawna helped parents interpret special education laws, prepare for school meetings, and advocate for the services their children deserved. What started as volunteer advocacy quickly grew into a trusted network. Families weren’t just finding answers they were finding empowerment As demand increased, Shawna realized that advocacy needed to go beyond individual support. Nonprofits, schools, and youth programs also needed training to make inclusion a lived practice, not a legal checkbox. That realization led to the evolution of Advocate Baltimore into Navigating Advocacy for Meaningful Education (N.A.M.E.) 

From Advocate Baltimore to N.A.M.E.

Shawna is currently pursuing her Doctorate in Educational Management and Leadership (Ed.D.) at Drexel University. Her Problem of Practice (PoP) focuses on how out-of-school time (OST) and community-based organizations can recognize, sustain, and institutionalize the inclusive leadership practices of Black women educators who support students with IEPs and 504 plans.

Her research examines how Black women educators working in OST, community programs, and youth-serving nonprofits shape equitable learning environments, strengthen disability access, and expand academic opportunities beyond the traditional K–12 system.

Her scholarly inquiry is guided by three central questions:

  1. How can OST and community organizations intentionally recognize and sustain inclusive leadership practices demonstrated by Black women educators?

  2. What institutional structures help or hinder these practices from being acknowledged, supported, and replicated across youth-serving spaces?

  3. How can these insights strengthen disability inclusion, academic support, and meaningful access for students with IEPs and 504 plans in community-based settings?

This research does more than inform N.A.M.E.’s mission: it reflects it. The Maryland Inclusion Project and NAME’s design center the belief that true access requires leadership, advocacy, and community-rooted practice working together to build sustainable systems of equity for families navigating special education.

Academic Research & Doctoral Work